DIY Project Diary - week 3

The builders left at last - after 3 weeks of work. It took us a couple of weeks to install the office units, the secondary lighting system and some wardrobes from Schreiber. People complain about IKEA flat packs, but they should try Schreiber, the German manufacturer! It took us 3 days to put together a double -wardrobe. It was soooo complicated – unnecessarily so. Comparatively, IKEA units are designed for idiots to put together..

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How not to decorate - Part 2

read part 1 of how not to decorate your home

6, Reproduction

 A house or a piece of furniture should reflect its own time. One of the worst interiors I’ve seen was a traditional look created in a modernist 60’s building. All furniture looked “antique” – reproduced ceiling roses, picture rails and cornices were used to make to house look old. WHY? What is the point of making something new look old? If you want old – buy old. But don’t make new furniture/buildings/decoration look old. You should always try to be true to the age of your building – don’t add unoriginal features. However, new and old can work very well together – but you must be careful in order to get toget the balance right..

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How not to decorate – part 1

Successful decoration is not really about fashion or style – but following basic rules as to what to do and what not to do. There are some basic no-no’s when it comes to decorating. Follow these rules and you will have a stylish and comfortable home..

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Minimalism

It seems that minimalism has had its day. At the end of the 90’s most of us wanted to chuck out our chintz and live a modern “minimalist” lifestyle. However minimalism doesn’t seem to fit within our current culture that encourages maximalism (otherwise called consumerism). Also, the media and the Home Improvement market has totally misinterpreted minimalism and turned it into cheap, shallow nothingness. No wonder so many people now want colour, texture and things..

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Interior Design in our Home

Interior design is the new fashion statement. Not only have the DIY & Home Improvement Stores zoomed into selling us an ideal lifestyle, but most fashion houses have also launched their own homeware products. So we have a wide range of choice of affordable stuff that we want but don’t really need. Our television is full of DIY makeover, renovation, build-your-own-house programmes that give us the illusion that we can do anything quickly, cheaply and effectively. Dozens of magazines make us envious of beautiful spaces. We want better and more. Despite endless choices, images and styles the result is that our trendy and fashionable interiors are themed and look alike. And they are rather soulless. So interior design has been transformed by the Macdonaldisation phenomenon. Individualism and taste got replaced by commercialism and sheep mentality..

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